There are many different types of game tickets known in the art. One conventional type of game ticket is associated with a pull-tab (pull tab) game. In a pull tab game, a set of game tickets, often referred to as a “deal of tabs,” is created. There are a fixed amount of wins in each deal. The type and amount of wins are used to create the content of the pull tab tickets. A typical two-ply pull tab ticket has multiple tabs (windows) per game ticket that are initially hidden. Upon purchase, a player uncovers each of the pull tabs to determine if the ticket is a winner. A winning pull tab ticket may require the presence of a combination of symbols (similar to a slot machine), or the presence of a winning symbol under a single pull tab. Machines have been created to automatically dispense and even validate pull tabs. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,771 (Haste, III) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,299 (Clapper, Jr.), both of which are incorporated by reference herein. One commercially sold pull tab machine is the Lucky Tab II machine, available from Diamond Game Enterprises, Inc., Chatsworth, Calif.
Single-ply pull tab tickets also exist. Single-ply pull tab tickets have at least one game region with game content similar to the content of a pull tab game, but with no pull tab structure. One example of prior art single-ply pull tab tickets is shown in FIG. 1. (The tickets in FIG. 1 are part of the same deal of tickets.) In these tickets, different strings of alphanumeric characters represent different symbols, such as the symbols shown in FIG. 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,299. The form factor of the tickets in FIG. 1 allow for an extremely large number of tickets to be dispensed from a single reel of tickets, while allowing the ticket contents to be automatically read and displayed using the bar code reader and display screen in the machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,299.
Conventional pull tab tickets are sold in fixed denominations, typically ranging from $0.25 to $2.00 with award (prize) amounts ranging from the cost of the ticket to $5,000. Most of the prize amounts are small multiples of the ticket price. The average chance of winning for any particular ticket typically ranges from about 1 in 5 to about 1 in 7, but other ratios are known in the art.
Electronic pull tab machines also exist. These machines are electronically loaded with one or more electronic “digital deals” (i.e., an electronic version of a set of physical tickets). Unlike a slot machine, the electronic pull tab machine does not select the outcome. It merely dispenses the set of tickets which have predetermined content that provides a predetermined outcome. The electronic pull tabs are dispensed in a previously determined order, such as sequentially. A touch screen is often provided on such machines. Upon receipt of payment, a pull tab appears on the touch screen and the player touches each tab or window to reveal its hidden content. Another type of electronic pull tab machine uses spinning reels which simulate physical reels that display tab results upon stopping. A receipt is printed if the electronic pull tab ticket is a winner. When all of the pull tabs in each available deal are sold, new digital deals must be electronically loaded into the machine to allow for continued play. One example of a touch screen electronic pull tab machine that dispenses “digital pull tabs” is commercially available from Tekbilt USA, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. The digital deal is loaded into the Tekbilt USA machine using a floppy disk and security key.
Pull-tab tickets that allow a user to play multiple games on a single ticket are well-known in the art, as discussed above. Additional examples of such tickets are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,432 (Stoken et al.). However, the individual tickets have a fixed denomination and the purchase price of the ticket includes all of the games on the ticket.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0094491 (Breslo), which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a vending machine for dispensing preprinted game tickets, such as pull tab tickets. Instead of having a fixed cost and a fixed prize amount, the game tickets may be purchased at different bet levels and credit values, both of which change the cost and prize amount. Buy-a-pay payments are also provided to buy additional winning symbol combinations. The methods described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0094491 are referred to as “multi-bet” methods. The vending machine may dispense the types of tickets shown in prior art FIG. 1. The tickets may be dispensed in the form of a roll of single-ply pull tabs. For example, an actual deal may contain the results for generating 600,000 or more pull tabs which can be used to create 20 rolls of single-ply pull tabs, each having 30,000 pull tabs. In U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0094491, each ticket is preprinted with only one individually playable game.
Notwithstanding the technology discussed above, there is still a need to improve the efficiency of ticket dispensing so that the volume of paper devoted to ticket printing can be reduced even further, and the frequency of roll replacements or ticket stack replenishments in vending machines can be further reduced. The present invention addresses these needs.